Territorial extent: Scotland
19.The Act generally applies in Scotland as it does in England. The power to initiate the new mechanism of pension compensation sharing on divorce (contained in Chapter 1 of Part 3) is conferred on courts in England and Wales by amendments of matrimonial and civil partnership legislation (contained in Schedule 5). The Act contains equivalent amendments to the Scottish matrimonial and civil partnership legislation (Schedule 6).
20.The Scottish Parliament’s consent has been sought and obtained for the provisions in the Act that trigger the Sewel Convention. These provisions are contained in Schedule 7 to the Act. The Sewel Convention provides that Westminster will not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters in Scotland without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.